Salford partners propose revisions to Crescent masterplan

The English Cities Fund and its partners are proposing changes to the Crescent Development Framework that guides a £2.5bn regeneration programme spanning 240 acres around the University of Salford. The new addendum would revise development-area boundaries, respond to buildings already delivered or moving through planning, and establish a distinct Health District within the wider innovation area. Residents and other stakeholders will be consulted from 16 November to 28 December 2026 before the revised framework is considered for approval.

The Crescent Partnership brings together Salford City Council, the University of Salford, and ECF, the development venture involving Muse, Legal & General, and Homes England’s National Housing Bank. Its original framework was adopted in 2021 to guide a mixed-use district of housing, education, workplaces, and public space. Since then, parts of the programme have moved through construction and planning, while the university’s estate priorities have changed. The proposed addendum adjusts the geography of the framework around those emerging projects and the university’s Campus Connectivity Plan, allowing future proposals to be considered against a more current layout.

Construction and consenting already under way have created fixed points for the updated masterplan. Willohaus homes are complete, another 490 homes in Adelphi Village have planning permission, and Salford Rise and the university’s acoustics building have progressed. These projects influence the available plots, street connections, and interfaces with later development. A framework that reflects completed or approved buildings can provide a clearer basis for positioning future routes and open space, particularly where separate projects meet along the campus edge or the A6 corridor.

The most substantial zoning change is a proposed Health District alongside Crescent Innovation, splitting the original innovation area into a more specialised arrangement. It would incorporate the University’s Thrive Health and Wellbeing Centre, already under construction, and help structure adjoining academic and commercial development. The new boundaries would also alter how public spaces and pedestrian routes are considered between the health facilities and the rest of the district. Approval of the framework would guide future applications, while individual projects would still need their own planning and investment decisions.

The addendum also reflects the university’s expansion on the south side of the A6. The Old Fire Station Bakery and Brewery is part of the developing estate, the Faraday building has obtained approval, and plans for a new Business School are progressing through planning. The latest framework would incorporate this emerging campus geography and the university’s Campus Connectivity Plan. Linking the campus to surrounding communities and proposed commercial uses places particular demands on walking routes, crossing points, and the design of spaces between buildings.

Changes to the blue-green infrastructure strategy would influence the layout of wildlife corridors, river-edge habitats, landscaping, and pedestrian connections across the 240-acre area. The partnership is proposing new and improved green spaces alongside changes to character-area boundaries. The distribution of open land affects how building plots connect, where routes cross between neighbourhoods and the university, and how drainage and habitats are accommodated. Those relationships become particularly important as individually planned developments are delivered at different times and need to connect with existing streets, public spaces, and infrastructure.

Earlier proposals for around 2,000 purpose-built student bedrooms near Peel Park Campus are to be removed from the illustrative approach. The addendum would also revise development zones to incorporate schemes at different stages of consent and construction, rather than hold them to the boundaries drawn in 2021. New priorities include the health facilities and the long-term transformation of the A6 corridor. Together, the changes adjust the intended mix and location of future buildings while leaving the overall Crescent regeneration programme in place. The partnership is updating its development framework, rather than submitting a single application covering all the proposed works.

The Crescent programme includes individual schemes with different planning and delivery statuses. The Thrive facility is under construction, the Faraday building has approval, and the proposed Business School is progressing through planning. Other elements are still represented by the framework and will require further design, procurement, investment, and consents. This sequence also affects the construction pipeline: framework approval could establish updated development principles, but the timing and delivery of later buildings will follow the decisions taken for each site. That distinction keeps the revised masterplan separate from construction starts already under way.

The proposed consultation will run for six weeks from 16 November through 28 December, with views collected in person, online, by email, and by post. The partnership says comments will be considered before the document is finalised. Salford City Council’s Cabinet is then expected to consider the addendum for approval. The process gives local residents and project stakeholders a formal opportunity to question how the revised development zones, campus expansion, transport links, and green infrastructure fit together.

After consultation closes, the Crescent Partnership will consider submissions before presenting the final addendum to Salford City Council’s Cabinet. That decision will establish whether the new character areas, Health District, and revised environmental priorities become the basis for future planning applications. Existing construction projects remain subject to their separate programmes, while subsequent development plots and infrastructure connections will be guided by the updated framework if it is approved. The immediate task is therefore to settle the proposed land-use and connectivity arrangements before later projects advance to individual planning and procurement stages.